Respect for Acting "This fascinating and detailed book about acting is Miss Hagen's credo, the accumulated wisdom of her years spent in intimate communion with her art. It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she [taught], and an explanation of the means to the end." --Publishers Weekly "Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her 'object exercises' display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation." --Library Journal "Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting . . . is a relatively small book. But within it, Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft." --Los Angeles Times "There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by Uta Hagen." --Fritz Weaver "This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind-the-scenes flavor." --King Features Syndicate

This simple and essential book about the craft of acting describes a technique developed and refined by the authors, all of them young actors, in their work with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, actor W. H. Macy, and director Gregory Mosher. A Practical Handbook for the Actor is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play." The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Sanford Meisner was one of the best known and beloved teachers of acting in the country. This book follows one of his acting classes for fifteen months, beginning with the most rudimentary exercises and ending with affecting and polished scenes from contemporary American plays. Written in collaboration with Dennis Longwell, it is essential reading for beginning and professional actors alike. Throughout these pages Meisner is a delight—always empathizing with his students and urging them onward, provoking emotion, laughter, and growing technical mastery from his charges. With an introduction by Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa and Tootsie, who worked with Meisner for five years. "This book should be read by anyone who wants to act or even appreciate what acting involves. Like Meisner's way of teaching, it is the straight goods."—Arthur Miller "If there is a key to good acting, this one is it, above all others. Actors, young and not so young, will find inspiration and excitement in this book."—Gregory Peck

A vital companion for actors in rehearsal - a thesaurus of action-words to revitalise performance, with a foreword by Terry Johnson. Finding the right action is an essential part of the process of preparation for the actor. Using this thesaurus of active verbs, the actor can refine the action-word until s/he hits exactly the right one to help make the action come alive. The method of 'actioning' is widely used in rehearsal rooms, but has never before been set down in a systematic and comprehensive way. 'If you want to act, or act better, Actions will take you a long way on the journey to excellence' Terry Johnson

The legendary acting coach shares his inspirational philosophy and effective techniques--including case studies, exercises, and professional insights--designed to help actors connect personally with a script, develop a character from the inside out, overcome fear and inhibitions, hone technical skills, and more. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.

Until recent times, acting wisdom was passed on through an oral tradition called "tips". Presented here are 205 tips, including the way to set up a laugh, the use of opposites, a clear definition of "actions", how to use a "breath score", and even how to react if you're fired. The tips are simple to implement and will lead to a better day at auditions and rehearsals, and a better night in performance. It's like having an acting coach in your rehearsal bag!

(Applause Books). A master actor who's appeared in an enormous number of films, starring with everyone from Nicholson to Kermit the Frog, Michael Caine is uniquely qualified to provide his view of making movies. This revised and expanded edition features great photos, with chapters on: Preparation, In Front of the Camera Before You Shoot, The Take, Characters, Directors, On Being a Star, and much more. "Remarkable material ... A treasure ... I'm not going to be looking at performances quite the same way ... FASCINATING!" Gene Siskel

The casting director for Chicago, Pippin, Becket, Gypsy, The Graduate, the Sound of Music and Jesus Christ Superstar tells you how you can find your dream! Absolutely everything an actor needs to know to get the part is here: What to do that moment before, how to use humour; create mystery; how to develop a distinct style; and how to evaluate the place, the relationships and the competition. In fact, Audition is a necessary guide to dealing with all the "auditions" we face in life. This is the bible on the subject.

Used to teach beginning acting on more campuses than any other text, Acting One contains twenty-eight lessons based on experiential exercises. The text covers basic skills such as talking, listening, tactical interplay, physicalizing, building scenes, and making good choices.

A book that will stand the test of time for any actor in the making, a book of knowledge and hard-earned commitment to the art of acting"- Pierce Brosnan An essential guide to mastering the Stanislavski technique, filtering out the complexities of the system and offering a dynamic, hands-on approach. In-Depth Acting provides a comprehensive understanding of character, preparation, text, subtext and objectives. • How to prepare for drama school and professional auditions • How to develop a 3-dimensional, truthful character • Preparation exercises to help you get in character • Rehearsal guidelines • An appendix of Transitive/Active Verbs and more ‘A wonderful, succinct book that no student or professional actor should be without.’ - Jenny Lipman, Acting Tutor at LAMDA ‘Dee Cannon’s classes at RADA were legendary. This is an inspiring and intensely practical guide for anyone, at any stage of their acting life.’ - Eve Best ‘As a former student of Dee’s, I can assure you that this is the definitive version of the method I use to approach every role: iPods, animals and OBJECTIVES! How wonderful to finally have it all in book form!’ - Gemma Arterton 'Working with Dee and with this book I feel my process and preparation has been energized, activated and inspired' - Ramin Karimloo

Michael Beckett, renowned acting teacher of New York City's HB Studio, investigates the many mysteries of the noble art of acting. Compiled from live recorded transcripts from his invitational experimental master class, the actor's craft is studied through deep inquiry into the actor's psyche. Emotional blocks, insecurities and universal concerns of the beginner and advanced actor are observed with the intent to unravel the entanglement of mind itself. Zen stories and esoteric principles are explored as life lessons to shed light on the actor’s understanding of human nature. Universal concerns of the actor's process are explored from a perspective that goes far beyond technique. Conversations cover such topics as the joy of being confused, working from emptiness, playing the action not the concept, turning yourself on, loving the character as yourself, and dealing with self-consciousness and performance jitters. For example: Student: "What do you mean the actor has to have an empty mind?" Teacher: "There are two ways to listen. And in acting, one of the ways is listening to the person and to the inner conversation one is having in relation to the expectation or condition one is setting up for that person. Another way of listening is coming to it with nothing, with no expectation or condition. It's a very different kind of listening – the way you listen to a great piece of music, or the way you listen to the wind in the trees. The actor wants to listen in relation to a condition that he sets up, an expectation." *** Teacher: Know yourself. Make mistakes. Run risks. Any place where you're challenged, even threatened--it's good. And if you get pissed off and upset, that's a good sign. it means something's getting to you. Watch--usually when you're being "gotten to," there's a lot of negativity that starts surfacing because you start to defend your position finding reasons to stay protected. And it's very easy to find justifications. But when you don't go that way--when you surrender to all of it and don't defend yourself, you can learn something about yourself. Why am I pissed off? Why am I angry? it's got nothing to do with what's going on out there, it must have something to do with me.

One of our most brilliantly iconoclastic playwrights takes on the art of profession of acting with these words: invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school. Acting schools, “interpretation,” “sense memory,” “The Method”—David Mamet takes a jackhammer to the idols of contemporary acting, while revealing the true heroism and nobility of the craft. He shows actors how to undertake auditions and rehearsals, deal with agents and directors, engage audiences, and stay faithful to the script, while rejecting the temptations that seduce so many of their colleagues. Bracing in its clarity, exhilarating in its common sense, True and False is as shocking as it is practical, as witty as it is instructive, and as irreverent as it is inspiring.

Culled from Tony Barr's 40 years' experience as a performer, director and acting teacher in Hollywood, this highly praised handbook provides readers with the practical knowledge they need when performing in front of the camera. This updated edition includes plenty of new exercises for honing on-camera skills; additional chapters on imagination and movement; and fresh material on character development, monologues, visual focus, playing comedy and working with directors. Inside tips on the studio system and acting guilds make it particularly helpful for people new to the business, and numerous anecdotes from actors such as Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins and examples from current movies illustrate its many lessons. It is perfect for acting classes, workshops, all actors who work in front of the camera -- and all those who want to.
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